BACKGROUND INFO - VERY VERY EYE GLAZINGLY LONG
So the problem is IDK when I started getting really fat. I just don’t know.
I got sober March 2, 2007 at thirty years old. During the first six months of my sobriety I ate WHATEVER and HOWEVERMUCH I wanted and slept CONSTANTLY. I was not SLIM by any stretch when I got sober I was definately fat. I just don’t know HOW FAT. In early sobriety my weight ballooned at an alarming rate (though I wasn’t truly alarmed I just wanted to not drink) until I awoke September 2007 at over 260LBS.
I went onto a very drastic diet alternating between stillmans and the Atkins Fat Fast. Both are very low calorie very low carb Ways of Eating. Stillmans is high protein, the Fat Fast is High Fat. I lost weight this way for several months. Realizing that WOE was unhealthy I transitioned onto Traditional Atkins with which I had only moderate success. Finally hitting a complete wall/stall about a year in. I then switched to JUDD (Dr. Johnsons Up Day Down Day Diet) on which I would eat less than five hundred calories one day and then eat higher calories the next day (1800-2000) oh yeah and I did this low carb.
I was also finally finally finally diagnosed as Hypothyroid in October of 2008, thanks to the help of another online support community. With my thyroid hormone replacement and my extreme WOE I managed to get down to 188 by June 2009.
This was through DIET ONLY with absolutely NO EXERCISE.
AT this point began my HEINOUS HEINOUS PROBLEMS!!! (EVEN WORSE than when I first discovered my hypothyroidism). Its the oldest story in the book but the Endo that was treating my Hypo was basically a moron. A nice moron, but a moron nonetheless. Many Endos go with what they learned in medical school 20 years ago and what they hear from the drug company reps. She clearly hadn’t picked up a medical journal in recent decades. But I digress.
Due to improper testing and improper treatment protocols she began drastically cutting my medication/hormones. My ability to function completely crashed and I began steadilly gaining weight. I was so completely exhausted that Winter and Spring (09-10) that it was all I could do to make it to work every day. I would sleep on my office floor on my lunch break. I would sleep in my car before I drove home ten miles from work. I can’t really explain how badly I felt.
I would not wish that period of misery on ANYONE. I am not exaggerating in that I was almost the walking dead. Oh yeah and TONS of my hair fell out (WAY WORSE even than the before picture I posted where it is just thin at the crown).
By the time I found my wonderful new doctor (Dr. Chris Camilleri @ Holtorf Medical in Foster City, CA) AND HAD my first appointment with him 4/07/2010 my weight was up to 218 (thats right I gained thirty pounds in eight months while eating an average of less than 1200 calories per day). Dr. C properly tested me and diagnosed me with ReverseT3 syndrom (Wilson’s Syndrome).
He began me right away on proper treatment protocol and about six weeks later the will to live returned! During that first visit Dr. C looked at me and said “you will feel better in six weeks” Um, ok? Well that is EXACLTY what happened. In fact I began to feel so incredible that I wanted to start exercising. I looked around for an exercise program and a WOE to support it.
Enter BFL. I began my first Body for Life Challenge 5/31/2010 at 209LBS. (please note that is EXACTLY six weeks after my first visit to Holtorf exactly as my doctor promised) I transitioned off my low carb WOE onto BFL Style (40/20/20/1650cals per day/ONEFREEdayperweek). I followed the WOE and workouts to a T. Halfway through challenge (end of week six) I weighed 207. So, FEELING GREAT but only lost two pounds in six weeks while following the Body for Life Way of Etaing described above and the Body for life lifting program which is three days progressive ramping to failure lifting and 3 days cardio (HIIT). So I felt great but the scale was not responding (this is for you Betty).
END Of Challenge (end of week 12) 8/23/2010 I was down to 203. So five pounds in twelve weeks. It was frustrating yes but I also couldn’t believe how much better I felt and that I was able to LIFT and RUN and DO STUFF. I was going to keep going even if I only lost five pounds every twelve weeks forever. It was better than nothing and it was WAY BETTER than the out of control unstoppable gaining I had been experiencing.
BY NOW I AM TOTALLY Dedicated to weight lifting and have a completely NEW ideal body in mind I began to look around for a program to try next. I sensed that Body for Life is geared towards beginners and was convinced I could make even faster/better progress with a new program.
At this point I have been dieting for three years. various ways of eating and debilitating thyroid problems plagued my journey. I’d experienced a thirty pound weight gain while trying to lose. I was tired people. TIRED. I was sick and tired of being the GENERAL in this weight loss battle. I wanted to be a SOLDIER.
Enter Erik Ledin of Lean Bodies Consulting. I had known about Erik for quite sometime and was ecstatic to discover how reasonable his rates are. We began corresponding near the end of my Body for Life challenge and agreed that I would take a diet and lifting break for several weeks and be ready to go full force after that.
I started with Erik’s program 09/15/2010 hovering right around 200LBS. By this time my thyroid levels were greatly improved and my FREE T3 was up to about halfway of range (STILL NOT OPTIMIZED. OPTIMIZED is the TOP 2/3 - 3/4 of LAB RANGE I have actually NEVER achieved OPTIMIZED).
I do not have all of my Erik Results but I know that I could lose up to 5LBS every two weeks with him. I know that I was down to 159 by April 2011 so about forty pounds in seven months. I THINK I stayed with Erik until around Mid June 2011. By then the scale was down to 147LBS. (I recorded various weights on Fitday which is the only way I know any of this). So I ended up losing over fifty pounds with Lean Bodies Consulting.
I was well entrenched in posting on TNation by then though not logging due to Confidentiality Agreements with my coach. On my own I dieted and lifted and cardiod my way down to 137LBS sometime I THINK around Mid September 2011. Thats when I started “bulking” and started running 5 3 1. I think that catches us up. PIC is at 137 lowest scale weight.
Thanks to Bodybuildingbabe for posting her story. Makes it easier to share mine.
And since the pics got thrown out for whatever god forsaken reason I guess its best to post my story with them too.
